


The Shadow and The Shield

by orphan_account



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Happy Ending, M/M, Suicidal Thoughts, Superhero!Phil, no actual suicide though, superhero au, superhero/supervillain - Freeform, supervillian!Dan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-25
Updated: 2017-11-25
Packaged: 2019-02-06 14:32:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12819603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: After years of being a supervillain, Dan can't take it anymore.Follow him throughout his journey of being a villain.





	The Shadow and The Shield

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: there are mentions of wanting to commit suicide, so if that affects you, please don't read.
> 
> This was vaguely based on "Requiem" from Dear Evan Hansen. I recommend you go listen to it! Although it's not really related anymore, it's where I first got the idea for this from.

Dan hated what he had become. He hated the life he was living. He hated what he forced himself to do. But most of all, he hated that this was his choice.

It all started when he was a kid, and he realized that what he could do was different from everyone else. He could control light and darkness, making it bend to his will. When he was young, he just thought it was a cool trick. When all the other kids pretended to be superheros, he didn’t realize that they were just imagining their powers.

He didn’t realize that he was different until his mom saw him one day. Seeing her 6 year old son playing with light as if it were a ball startled her so much she almost passed out. After screaming at young Dan for scaring her, and him not understanding, she explained to him how the real world worked. 

After that day, Dan never used his powers in front of others. He didn’t want to be seen as different. For years, he barely even used them at all. He only practiced in the dead of night when he was sure no one was around. And he stopped manipulating light, instead focusing on shadows and darkness. 

 

After years of hiding away, everything changed. Suddenly, someone else was discovered to have powers. He was called a real life superhero by the news, and was loved by everyone.

The Shield, as the reporters called him, had the ability to protect and heal those around him. No one knew who he really was, and everyone loved him. Dan couldn’t believe it.

Every day, Dan would come home and become glued to the television, fuming with anger. 

 

_“And here we see The Shield at it again, fighting off an attempted mugger! What a hero!”_

_“Another successful day for The Shield! Today he was at the hospital, healing the sick and injured. What a good samaritan!”_

_“Everyone has been wondering, who is the man behind the persona? So far, nobody has any idea who The Shield actually is. The only identifying feature we have seen so far has been his striking blue eyes! If you have any information on his real identity, don’t hesitate to call!”_

 

Dan couldn’t stand it. He should be the one being given all this praise, not the stupid Shield. 

One day, inspiration finally hit him. He could steal the fame by becoming a supervillain!

In his mind, it seemed like a foolproof plan. Once he showed how weak The Shield really was, he’d get all the fame!

 

A week later, he was ready. The shield was out running around town stealing all of the attention, and Dan was finally ready to take him on. He was dressed in all black, using the power of shadows to propel himself across town until he found him. He was terrifying in his opinion.

After their first encounter, where barely anything happened, the news was buzzing with the talk of who this new person could be. And Dan was loving it.

 

_“As many of you have heard, there’s a new superhero in town. And this one doesn’t seem to friendly. He was seen today challenging The Shield. We will update you further when more information comes out.”_

_“Who is the new person in town? He has been named The Shadow, due to his preferred method of transportation being shadows. Very little is currently known about him. There is no clear motive, although he did seem to be showing off to the cameras. We will be watching and waiting for more news.”_

_“The motive of The Shadow is still unclear. It appears as if he wants to destroy The Shield, although that is still just guesswork. His face remains hidden throughout all of his fights, so there are no known details about his identity. He appears to be able to control shadows, but we don’t know how far his power truly extends. He is still a mystery to us.”_

 

Dan had been the shadow for four years now. At first, it was wonderful. He got all the attention of the news and the fame he’d always dreamed of. But it slowly spiralled downhill.

In order to keep getting The Shield’s attention, he’d started doing worse and worse things. It started with just destroying buildings until he was kidnapping and threatening to kill people. 

He couldn’t deal with it anymore. 

He was done with this lifestyle.

He was done with this life.

 

He was standing on the edge of a building. He wasn’t wearing the outfit he wore when he was The Shadow, he was just wearing civilian clothes. The outfits weren’t even that different, except that in his normal clothes you could clearly see his face.

He was looking down, and he knew what he had to do. He’d left a letter behind telling his story, that he’d sent to all the news stations. At least he’d have one last bit of fame for everyone to remember him by, even if it wasn’t positive.

Just as he was about to step off the edge, he felt a pair of arms tackling him to the roof. When he looked up, he saw The Shield staring at him, trying to place where he’d seen Dan’s face before.

This was the last thing Dan wanted.

“Get off of me!” Dan shouted, wanting to get this over with.

The Shield looked genuinely hurt. How could he be upset about someone he didn’t even know? It didn’t make sense to Dan. As if reading Dan’s mind, he said, “And let you jump? I don’t think so.”

Dan wanted to fight him off, but without his outfit he wasn’t strong enough. “If you knew who I am, what I’ve done, you’d throw me over the edge yourself.”

“I doubt that. Everyone deserves a second chance. I’ve given plenty of people second chances. There’s some that I wish I could’ve given it too, but was never able. Don’t leave me with regrets. Sit and talk it out with me.”

“You want my full story?”

“Yes. Tell me everything. The good, the bad, all of it.”

Without a choice, Dan began telling his story from the beginning. When he first got powers, how he never knew he was different, how he hid them away for years. He stopped himself before getting to the part about the Shield and who he was, but the face the Shield was making guilted him into continuing talking. 

He talked about his jealousy, his plan to steal his fame. He talked about how he became the Shadow, and how he had slowly worsened his acts. He talked about his desire to rid the world of himself. Throughout this whole part, he refused to look at The Shield. He didn’t want to see the face of his enemy filled with hatred for him. He couldn’t bare it. 

When he was done and tears were flowing from his eyes, he felt a pair of fingers gently nudging him to look up. When he looked up, he saw the face of The Shield for the first time without a mask. There were tears shining in his eyes as well.

Suddenly, The Shield rushed forward and pull Dan into a hug. As they hugged, Dan could feeling emotions flowing into him, slowly at first before rushing in all at once.

As they hugged, Dan forget about the edge, he forgot about what he’d done, he even forgot that he was hugging his nemesis. All that mattered was that he felt wonderful. 

As they pulled away, The Shield said, “I forgive you. I think we should start over.”

Dan could only nod.

“Hi, I’m Phil.”

“My name is Dan.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed! If you have any feedback, I'd love to hear it! Also let me know if you want a sequel of them working together.


End file.
